My python 2 and 3 interpreters in /usr/bin somehow got deleted and now I am unable to reinstall either. I see that similar questions have been asked earlier(I accidentally deleted /usr/bin/python. How do I restore it?) but trying to reinstall using sudo apt-get install --reinstall python2.7 fails with the following message, and a list of about 15 packages:
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt --fix-broken install' with no packages (or specify a solution).
When I run sudo apt --fix-broken install it fails with the following error message:
Could not find platform independent libraries <prefix>
Consider setting $PYTHONHOME to <prefix>[:<exec_prefix>]
/usr/bin/python2.7: can't open file '/usr/lib/python2.7/py_compile.py': [Errno 2] No such file or directory
dpkg: error processing package python2.7-minimal (--configure):
installed python2.7-minimal package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 2
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of python-minimal:
python-minimal depends on python2.7-minimal (>= 2.7.15~rc1-1~); however:
Package python2.7-minimal is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing package python-minimal (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
Errors were encountered while processing:
python2.7-minimal
python-minimal
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
This happens despite setting PYTHONHOME to /usr/local/lib or /usr/lib, prior to running the above command.
Trying to reinstall python2.7-minimal first also produces the same errors.
I have no trouble accessing the terminal, and attempting to reinstall python3 using sudo apt-get install python3-all returns the same error as earlier - E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt --fix-broken install' with no packages (or specify a solution), and also lists a few packages.
